Mizuno Beast of the Southeast — February 22 – 24, 2019

We are excited to offer our signature tournament — Beast of the Southeast — for the 12th consecutive year. Beast will again be a National Qualifier for the 18-Open, 18-USA and American divisions. Thus, for the 18’s:

It is not necessary to be invited. If you want to attend, simply register on advancedeventsystems.com. Registration opens on October 1st.

It will be a three-day National Qualifier (Friday – Sunday, 2/22 – 24)

3 bids to the USAV National Championship tournament will be awarded in the 18 Open division; 3 bids will be awarded in 18 USA; 1 in 18 American. Note that Jacksonville Juniors, competing in the USA division, has already earned a bid. Thus, if they finish in the top three at Beast, their bid will trickle to the 4th place finisher.

Cost is $725 for the 18’s, who will be playing a three-day National Qualifier format.

For more info about National Qualifiers and the National Championship Tournament for the 18’s division, please visit this website:

Beast will remain a two-day (2/23 – 24) invitational tournament for 17’s and below. Invitations will be extended during the months of August, and we hope to have the competitive field finalized by the end of September. We have revised our invitation protocol in recognition of the number of fine clubs in the Southeast and beyond who choose to play a JVA/AAU schedule rather than trying to qualify for USAV Nationals. Though Beast will remain a USAV event, it is not our desire to exclude top teams from the tournament because they choose not to play a USAV qualifier schedule. Nor do we desire to admit weaker teams who accepted a USAV bid but are not otherwise competitive with the field. Blow-outs benefit no one.

Beast has traditionally been able to attract most of the best teams from throughout the Southeast–from Louisiana, Memphis, D.C., Raleigh, Miami and every significant market in between. And owing to its National Qualifier status, we now attract clubs from all over the U.S.

Hotel Accommodations

Please note that Beast of the Southeast is a Stay and Play Tournament — both for the U18’s Qualifier as well as 17’s and under. We are using Team Travel Source housing company for all of reservations this year.

We will be using two locations again this year. The venues are almost 50 miles apart so please book hotel rooms closest to your venue

Please make sure to list your club and team when making the reservations

If you have questions that remain after reviewing the link, please feel free to contact SVT Housing Coordinator Denise Corrigan at denise@a5volleyball.com

Recruiting — if previous years are any indication, we can expect 100 – 150 college coaches to be scouting 14’s and above on GICC’s 28 courts. We ask that coaches stop by the registration desk, where they will be given a (free) wristband in exchange for their registering with us. The tournament is University Athlete-friendly.

Venue — Importantly, all of the athletes of recruitable age will compete under one roof, enabling college coaches to scout the best prospective student-athletes from the Southeast in a time-efficient, enjoyable manner. 14’s and older will be competing at the Georgia International Convention Center (“GICC”), located near Atlanta’s airport — NOT to be confused with Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. The GICC location will eliminate the need for college coaches or out-of-town teams to rent vans and cars, and will likewise knock an hour or more off each leg of the trip.

Parking — $5/day or $10 with in-and-out privileges at GICC; free at SVC. On-site parking at SVC is limited. We will have a parking attendant on duty to direct you to contiguous parking lots. Please do not violate the highly visible “no parking” signs that will be posted in sensitive areas, as such action is likely to result in your car being towed.

Schedule — Will be posted not later than the Tuesday prior to the event.

What time should I schedule flights out of Atlanta? All we can tell you this far out — when registrations are still coming in and we don’t even know the size of the field — is the following:

The last match will be scheduled to conclude not later than 5 p.m.

Sometimes a few of the courts run behind — occasionally by as much as an hour.

The venue is connected to the airport. You can finish a match, take the sky train and be at the check-in gate in 15 minutes.

THEREFORE…. we think everyone will be safe in scheduling flights that depart 7:30 p.m. or later.

Tournament Format; Coaches Meeting – There will be no coaches meeting at this tournament. Rather, we ask that coaches download the coaches packet – beast – 2019 r3 in advance of the tournament. This packet contains a detailed description of each division’s format, along with information that will be of use for all tournament participants and spectators. We will have hard copies on hand at check-in for those who arrive without having done their homework.

Certified Athletic Trainers will be on site from about 7:00 a.m. through the close of competition. If you need to have your ankles wrapped you will need to bring your own tape.

Winners Invited to Beast — Winners of this tournament receive a Champion’s Exemption–an automatic invitation to the 2019 Beast of the Southeast.

Admission — Spectators — including “chaperones” and “team reps” — whether rostered or not — will be charged $15/day for admittance to the tournament, or $35 for all three days, or $25 for a two-day (Sat./Sun) pass. Players, coaches, college coaches and children under 10 will be admitted without cost. Doors will open at 7:00 a.m.

Check-in — Teams competing at GICC are able, but not required, to check in the evening prior to competition commencing. We will man the registration desk from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. for that purpose. If checking in the night prior to competition presents a hardship due to travel schedules or other reasons, teams competing in the a.m. wave may check in at 7 a.m. the day of competition, and teams in the p.m. wave may check in any time after noon.

Teams competing at SVC are to check in the morning (or afternoon, as the case may be) of competition.

The tournament will furnish wrist bands to every coach and player listed on a team’s roster at check-in. Parents, spectators, chaperones, team reps, etc. will all need to pay the admission charge to get their wrist bands. All individuals seeking entrance to the competition halls must be wearing their wrist bands.

Rosters — Please ensure that your rosters are uploaded onto AES a week prior to the tournament. We will have printed copies for you to review and sign upon check-in.

Food Tables — Sorry, but GICC does not allow food tables. A wide variety of food will be available on site. Food tables are allowed at SVC, and 1/2 table/team will be furnished by the venue. Please do not bring your own tables into the building as there is not room for them.

Warm-up Volleyballs — In previous years we have furnished warm-up volleyballs to all teams, but this has become a hassle as the tournament has grown, in that not all teams have been respectful about shagging balls or using just the number that we furnished. Accordingly, we are able to furnish warm-up volleyballs only to teams traveling by air. Affected coaches will need to trade your driver’s license for a bag of balls, and will be able to retrieve the license only when all of the balls are accounted for and turned in.

Artificial Noise — Please do not bring boom boxes, air horns, bells or the like into the gym.

5 Responses to Mizuno Beast of the Southeast — February 22 – 24, 2019

My name is Erica Bunch, and I brought my Prostyle 17 Premiers to your Beast tournament in 2012. My 17’s did qualify for the USAV National Tournament in 2012. I would like to bring my 18’s back to your 2013 tournament. In addition, I am interested in bringing my top 13’s and 15’s teams to your 2013 Beast of the SE tournament. Although these teams did not qualify for nationals, they did finish in the top 20 in the Florida Region. Please keep these teams on your list if your tournament does not fill up. You can contact me at this email address or my phone number at 850-508-5676.

Our 18’s team is interested in participating in Beast of the Southeast 2013. We would like to be considered for this field. Is there anything we have to submit to get an invitation to participate? Last season, we had a lot of success placing 9th at AAUs and 9th at Colorado Crossroads. If you need more information, please contact me at the above email address and I can send you all of our results from last season. Thanks!

Our goal at Beast is to assemble the most highly competitive field that we can attract, guaranteeing all participants a minimum of five matches–hopefully all against highly competitive teams–avoiding the blow-outs during pool play that seem to plague most tournaments.

We automatically invite those teams that qualified for USAV Nationals last season. The deadline for acceptance of those invitations is upon us, and we will begin to invite teams on an at-large basis next week. Your team will be considered in that process and we will contact you off line to learn more.